Hemsworth MMA ace Askham set for British title fight

Nick Rigg

Hemsworth mixed martial arts (MMA) star Scott Askham is targeting the BAMMA British Middleweight title after making it a perfect ten.

The 24-year-old continued his growing reputation on the MMA circuit with a third-round victory over Harry McLeman at the BAMMA 12 event in Newcastle at the weekend - his tenth win from as many professional bouts.

Now the fearsome fighter is turning his attentions to a British title, and a spot in the world-famous Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

“Hopefully the BAMMA British Middleweight title is next up for me,” said Askham.

“There’s no date set for it yet but the opponent could be Dean Callum if he wins his next fight against Denniston Sutherland.

“It doesn’t matter who I fight for that belt though because I’m going to win it.”

On his UFC aims he said: “I definitely want to be involved and if I win a couple more fights I’m 100 per cent sure they’ll come calling.

“I think I need one or two more fights and hopefully my management can sort something out.”

Askham, who trains out of Ludas Magnus gym in Doncaster, was due to fight the higher-ranked Kevin Thompson at the Metro Arena in Newcastle on Saturday but the Whitehaven fighter pulled out, leaving McLeman to step in.

“He was messing us about,” Askham said. “He said he couldn’t make the weight the week before the event so we changed it so he had the chance but he pulled out anyway.

“It was disappointing because we bent over backwards to get the fight.”

McLeman still proved a tough contest for Askham but the Hemsworth fighter was always in control of the contest.

After coming close to finishing the bout at the end of the second round Askham secured the win in the third round with a rear-naked choke to his Plymouth-based opponent.

The win should move Askham up the rankings from 13th when they are updated, but the gain will not be as much as victory over Thompson would have handed him.

That will not worry Askham too much thanks to his growing reputation in the ring.

His weekend win came in front of 3,000 fans - his biggest live audience yet.

“I’d like to thank all my supporters who made the trip up to support me,” he said.